Every gamer can confidently say who Gabe Newell is. This genius of computer games has achieved tremendous success in all his endeavors. In his hands concentrated power over one of the most famous and profitable studios - Valve Corporation. To date, Gabe Newell is on the list of the richest people in the world according to Forbes magazine. His company costs about $ 3 million, and half of this money belongs to the developer personally.
Biography
This multimillionaire was born on November 3, 1962. Little is known about the developer’s childhood and youth. One thing is clear: as a child, Newell was distinguished by a sufficiently developed mind, thanks to which he entered Harvard University after leaving school. But he was not destined to get a degree, because at that time the whole world was addicted to computer technology, which was gaining popularity, and Gabe was no exception and gave his time to this science. At the risk of his future, Newell drops out of school and takes a job at Microsoft, then unknown. Ultimately, this decision brings him millions of dollars.
Valve corporation
Having worked for Bill Gates for 13 years and inspired by the success of Michael Abrash, who had previously left the corporation and created his own Quake project, Gabe Newell decides to go free swimming. In 1996, together with his friend Mike Harrington, who also worked at Microsoft, he created his own small computer game studio called Valve. Then this small corporation was not known to anyone, and investors were in no hurry to invest their money in it, afraid of getting burned. Therefore, Gabe and Mike had to part with their money in order to finance their first developments.
Having bought the Quake engine, they strongly reworked it, and on this basis they created their first Half-Life masterpiece, released in 1998. The game became an indisputable hit, and it is not surprising that the company set about developing the second part of the series. After its creation, the world found out who Gabe Newell was. Based on this engine, such popular modifications and games as Team Fortress Classic and Counter-Strike were born. In 2000, having received impressive monetary compensation, Mike Harrington left Valve, and Gabe became the sole owner of this already famous studio.
Valve Games
If we talk about who Gabe Newell is, then we can not help but mention the games that he created. In addition to the Half-Life series, Valve has become famous for many more high-profile projects. The most popular of them will be discussed later. Let's start with the favorite shooter of all gamers - Counter-Strike. This multiplayer game was released in 1999 as a modification to Half-Life and became famous thanks to its network mode. If you have a desire to shoot terrorists and have fun with friends, then you can safely run this old, but still popular game on the grid. Another hit released by Valve is the zombie apocalypse-style game Left 4 Dead. This shooter with elements of survival horror, released in 2008, won the title "Game of the Year." It is not surprising that after a short time there was a sequel, which acquired a corporate regime.
Gaming industry masterpieces
Do you like smart puzzles? If so, then you should definitely wander through the mazes of Portal. Due to its original plot, excellent music and graphics, this game has won more than 70 awards and at one time was held in the lead in sales for a long time. The puzzle was released by the studio in 2007, and in 2011 a sequel came out that surpassed the first part of the game in popularity.
Another brainchild of Valve Studios, about which almost everyone has heard, is Dota 2. This multi-player game since its release (2013) has won millions of fans around the world. From that moment on, Gabe's photo has become the subject of worship for every gamer. Today there is eSports with a huge prize pool where people from all over the world compete in Dota 2, and this says a lot. These games glorified their creator, but this is far from everything that this developer was engaged in.
Steam
Another brainchild that can tell who Gabe Newell is is the world famous game and software service, which appeared in 2003. Not only Valve Studio distributes its products through Steam, but also other well-known developers, such as id Software, GSC Game World, Rockstar Games, THQ, Capcom, 2K Games, Atari, Ubisoft, Eidos Interactive, Bethesda Softworks, 1C, etc. By According to statistics, this service sells about 10 thousand games a year.
Initially, Steam was conceived to simplify updates to computer games, in particular Counter-Strike, because at that time any gamer could not be allowed to fight if the version of his game is outdated. But very quickly, Gabe came to the conclusion that selling software through such a service is a gold mine. At first, only Valve studios could buy games here, but already in 2005 the catalog of virtual products expanded significantly. Steam quickly gained popularity, already in 2007, this service acquired a new system focused on the social component of the community. Through the Steam Community, users from all over the world can chat, create their own groups and invite their friends to the games. Today, this service is the main leader, leaving competitors far behind.